HOT SHOTS GOLF 3 ARTICLES

September 17, 2009 - The first day of GC Asia 2009 in Singapore kicked off today, with the show floor opening to the public and a number of keynote speeches from gaming luminaries as part of the DICE Summit Asia. One of the most interesting was given by Yasuhide Kobayashi, Senior Vice President of JAPAN Studio, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, on the need to cross cultural borders to make Japanese-developed games appealing to a global audience.
It was an interesting – and frank – presentation, and discussed some home truths that Japanese developers are facing in the modern videogame market. Mr Kobayashi pointed out that the Japanese market is shrinking, and thus, for Japanese developers, success in the US and European markets (in particular) are now key. Back in the days of the PSone, the Japanese market represented one third of the world market – yes, one third of all PlayStation games sold in the world were sold in Japan. Nowadays that figure is one fifth, and with production costs swelling (and no multi-platform option), it makes much less sense to develop games that aren't expected to ever leave Japan. He even went so far as to say that without success in the overseas market, the studio would fancy bankruptcy.

September 19, 2002 - We apologize for the somewhat blurry nature of the photo below -- it was unavoidable, due to the
need to avoid potential difficulties with Tokyo Game Show security staff. Either way, however, it
is clear evidence that we'll be seeing an online version of Minna no Golf, the series known in
the states as Hot Shots Golf, at the show later today. The title was announced on Sony's
list of online games a few months back, and was rumored to debut at the show, but this is the
first we've seen of the game on the record, as it were.

April 5, 2002 - SCE and developer Clap Hanz have quietly (at least as far as Western observers are concerned) announced that Minna no Golf 3, the latest installment in the popular golf simulation series, has shipped 1,000,000 copies in its native Japan. It's been available for a while, much longer than in the USA (where it was recently released as Hot Shots Golf 3), but that's quite the achievement nonetheless. Sony will be commemorating the event with a special commercial on Japanese TV, which leads one to wonder what sort of reward the fellows making Gran Turismo 3 received.

March 8, 2002 - The question with Hot Shots at this point is whether it's going all that far. Most years, this question would not come up at all, given that video golf gameplay has remained roughly constant for around two decades. Hot Shots 3 happens to be following the excellent Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 this year, though, which continues to establish its analog swing system as a superior innovation in golf gameplay. In comparison, the tap-tap-tap system employed in Hot Shots can't help but feel a little bit tired. It works, but there are far more possibilities to the PS2 control interface that could be make golf gameplay fresher, more intuitive, and more fun.

August 14, 2001 - Gaming in Japan for the week of 8/5 to 8/11... plus, an adventure in the real life ShenmueHappy fun gaming in Japan from people who are there. A look at the real-life Shenmue included!!

August 1, 2001 - It will come as a surprise to nobody that Impress Game Watch is the source of these new high-res screens of Minna no Golf 3, SCE's upcoming SD golf game for PlayStation 2 -- where else does this sort of thing come from? In any event, here they are, providing a good look at the new 3D characters and environmental detail in the latest installment of what has historically become the Hot Shots Golf series over here in the states.

July 23, 2001 - Why doesn't anybody do this sort of promotional event in the states? We at IGN, you see, have had to endure some pretty bloody miserable experiences in the process of covering various companies' games. Frequently, they like to put together something more ostentatious than just sending us a preview copy or a disk full of screenshots, which is why we've had to endure everything from baseball games with 3DO to a week in Hawaii with Ubi Soft. Well, the week in Hawaii wasn't so bad, but that's definitely an exception.

July 3, 2001 - SCE (via the PSWorld page) is teeing off with a pair of cool new movies of Minna no Golf 3, the PS2 arcade golf game that's liable to come to the states soon as Hot Shots Golf 3. Repeated throughout is the charming cry of "Nice Shot!", as the game's many superdeformed golf pros sink drive after drive and putt after putt. The traditional cutesy character designs are looking very nice in 3D -- hopefully SCEA will choose to leave them alone this time.

February 21, 2001 - Seriously. Mario Golf -- big heads. CyberTiger -- big heads. Swing Away Golf -- big heads. The list goes on, with nearly every system somehow managing to land a big-headed arcade golf game. The PlayStation 2 will soon have another in the form of Minna no Golf 3 (the continuation of the series known as Hot Shots Golf in the states), but the question remains. WHY BIG HEADS?